


A Muddy Picnic

by xxdearlybeloved



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 06:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18463664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxdearlybeloved/pseuds/xxdearlybeloved
Summary: Tommy's Nanny does her best to get him to spend more time with his young daughter, Charlotte, who misses her daddy





	A Muddy Picnic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cheeky_blinders](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheeky_blinders/gifts).



You’d had enough. You marched down the stairs, each step filled with determination that propelled you forward. Your mind pictured bursting through his door, his look of shock as you marched up to his desk and confronted him.

He needed to spend more time with her. They needed each other.

You weren’t enough.

You were rounding the corner, your words replaying in your head as you approached the door. As it loomed closer towards you, the dark wood cast in the shadows made your steps slow. Maybe this wasn’t the right way to handle it. Maybe you were just annoyed by being cooped up inside all week.

Maybe you and Charlotte both just needed some fresh air.

You were outside of his door now. Your hand was raised to knock. He could still do with spending more time with his daughter, you reasoned, moving to bring your knuckles to the hard wood. Before they made contact, the door swung open and you were face to face with the man himself.

His eyes were cold, tired. The faint scent of whiskey lingered on him as he stood back when he noticed you were in the door way. He was more unkept than usual, his normal three piece suit abandoned for a button down and suspenders that hung around his waist.

His eyes were expressionless as he looked at you. The suddenness had left you with your hand still suspended in the air and you sheepishly brought it down. “I was wondering…” you began, your words cut off by his direct stare. You wondered if he could read your mind.

“Yes?” he said, his voice heavy. You heard annoyance as well. This made you nervous.

“I was wondering if you would come up to see Charlie sometime, Mr. Shelby?” You were frustrated by how the request came out as a question when you wanted it to be a demand.

He looked at his watch. “Is she asking for me?”

“Well, she’s asleep now, but…” his expression cut your words off.

He slid his suspenders over his shoulder, his brows knit together in confusion or anger. “I’m busy today,” his tone was as firm as you’d wished yours had been. “I’ll see her tonight.” He moved to go past you, probably out of the door to God knows where until the late night hours.

“But you won’t, Mr. Shelby.” He stopped at your words, his back still towards you as you took a deep breath and continued. “She misses you, truly. You only see her in the mornings for breakfast, but you’re usually too tired or distracted to really see her. And I know she’s only little, sir, but she can tell. She really can.”

Your heart was beating in your ears as you watched him, waiting for him to turn and yell at you. But he didn’t. He kept walking, disappearing around the corner as you sank against the wall, wondering if you had just lost your job.

The next morning, you could barely breathe as you got Charlie dressed. Her blonde hair and big eyes reminding you so much of the portraits of Grace that still hung in the house. She was so sweet, but this morning she was happier than usual. And you knew why.

The sun was shining.

As you got her dressed, you listened as she listed off all of the things that you would do that day. You wanted to be excited as well, but you honestly didn’t know if you still had a job. You were up half the night waiting for someone to come in and let you go.

Charlotte took your hand down the stairs, practically skipping to the dining room as she sat at the table with her dad. You stood there awkwardly, but breathed a little easier seeing a plate still set out for you. “Good morning, Mr. Shelby”

He looked up at you and nodded, going back to his paper as he continued to sip his coffee. You took your seat as well, glancing over at Charlotte and immediately holding your breath from the expression on her face. She was nervous about something, her tiny brows knit together just like her dad’s usually were, and you wondered what was on her mind.

“Da, are you working today?” You couldn’t help but smile when he put down the paper and met her eyes.

“I am, love.”

“Oh…” her disappointment broke your heart as your eyes went from her to him. He took in her expression and shot a quick glance at you before moving his hand to her hair.

“I can come back for lunch, would you like that?” Her little eyes grew large as she beamed at him, nodding enthusiastically as she took a bite of her food.

“Can we ride horses, too, Da?” He laughed as he nodded, looking at you. You couldn’t help but smile back.

As the time for lunch came, you and Charlotte packed the lunches, having decided a picnic would be a fun idea. No more sitting inside if you could help it. A part of you was nervous as you watched the clock approach and pass lunch time. You knew something could easily come up, keeping Tommy away. You just hoped he would call first.

Both of you turned, startled as Tommy burst through the door, heading straight for Charlie as he swooped her in the air. Her giggles filled the air as she held on to her father, kissing him on the cheek when he stopped spinning.

“Are we all set?” he asked, looking towards the dining room.

“We’re having a picnic!” Charlie said excitedly, pointing to the basket you had been working on.

“Oh, that’s perfect. Lovely idea,” he said. Going to grab the basket and head outside. You smiled, watching them laugh together. A completely different Tommy stood before you and you liked what you saw.

“Is nanny coming?” Tommy asked, turning back to look at you.

“I only packed two lunches… I thought…”

“Come on, then!” Charlie said, her smile an impossible thing to refuse as you shrugged and followed them.

It had been difficult to find a spot that wasn’t terribly muddy, but that didn’t stop the fun, Charlie talked excitedly about her little world and you were ecstatic to see that Tommy was _listening_. She ran around, pretending to be a horse as you both smiled at her. Eventually, she grew tired of pretending and wanted to ride.

You packed up the lunch before following them to the stable, standing back in the corner as you watched Charlie greet all of the horses. Tommy came over to you, a rare smile on his face as he asked you if you wanted to ride as well.

“Oh, no thank you. I don’t ride. Horses… frighten me,” you admitted, laughing it off. Tommy didn’t laugh with you, he just nodded, walking away to take out the horse they were going to ride. You were fine watching, enjoying just being out in the sun as you listened to Charlie’s squeals and Tommy’s laughter.

As they brought the horse back in, you heard Tommy call your name, followed by Charlie repeating it in singsong. “Can you give us a hand?” Tommy asked, holding the reins towards you. He saw your hesitation, but reassured you with his eyes as he held out his other hand.

You walked over, slowly taking the reins from him as he eased you closer with his hand on your lower back. “She won’t bite,” he said, a little humor in his voice. You took a deep breath, moving closer to the horse, watching her eye on you. Tommy took one of your hands, gently resting it on her side. She was so soft, and you found yourself petting her without encouragement.

You helped hold her still while Tommy took off her saddle and brushed her, Charlie sitting on the bench nodding off as the day’s activities set in. The whole process was soothing and you found yourself admiring the care Tommy took with the horse, making sure she was set before taking the reins from you and leading her back into her stall.

He brushed his hands on his pants, The usually dapper Mr. Shelby looking more relaxed than you had seen him since you’d ben working for him.

He carried Charlie inside, her angelic face resting on his shoulder as his hand protectively sat on her back. You listened as he carried her upstairs, moving to bring the dishes back down to the kitchen.  You helped with the washing until Tommy came down looking for you.

You stood, drying your hands on your apron as you asked if there was something wrong with Charlie. “No. I just wanted to say thank you.” You nodded in shock, watching as he said hello to everyone else in the kitchen and went back upstairs.


End file.
